First-year VP in LMM Private Equity. I'm making a streak of drawing the short stick - started in MM PE as an associate and was worked to death. Made the switch to LMM PE as a Sr. Associate and hated the team. Moved cities and started at a first-time fund as the single VP six months ago. Since I joined, the fund missed its hard-cap fundraising goal and 2 of its 4 portco's broke covenants, severing the fund's ability to charge management fees. Was informed recently that should things continue on this path (they will), the fund will have to close operations by Labor Day.
At this point, I am in my late 20s and although I can see myself in private equity for the long term, a position opened up with the city's MLB team in Player Acquisitions. Pay is way below what I earn now, but it is a low cost of living city and baseball has always been my passion. The job definitely has some overlap with PE in terms of data analytics, valuation (of player contracts), negotiation and other soft skills. It would offer the opportunity to move up the GM line after a few years. However, pre-reqs of the job expect some sort of baseball-related analysis experience in Sequel or Python, which we don't use in PE, but I'm sure I could teach myself quickly.
Any tips on how you would restructure a PE resume to fit this job description or what to include in the CL? Is it even worth going after? I'm sure I could land another private equity job, but I figure instead of risking another short straw, I'd like to chase my #1 passion. I'm curious to hear everyone's feedback.
Dude. Fuck it. Life is short. Try something you love and take a break from PE. Worst case, you go to a sports-focused funds if this fails or you get a top MBA.
My older brother’s best friend worked his way into the front office of an MLB clubhouse after school, and as someone that was a former baseball player turned investor myself, I had the chance to connect with him because I was debating going that route. I’ll repeat the two biggest takeaways he gave me:
You have to have a love for the game because you won’t be getting paid anywhere near what you make now for a long, long time. Sure, if you can crack the highest executive ranks you start to get paid, but nearly everyone beneath that is grossly underpaid and is solely working because they love it.
With all that said, I wish I had the balls to fully go into one of these roles. So, if you love the game, I would pursue it. You could argue that of any major North American sport, baseball is on an alarming downward trend but hey, to each their own.
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Would you mind sharing what happened operationally with the two portcos that busted covenants and what you think your team missed in diligence?
Management in both cases. As LMM / MicroCap companies, a J curve was already built into the investment case because all companies acquired need OPEX investment to mature their operations and start to scale. For one Company, the owner (who rolled and was CEO) had specific credentials necessary to develop talent and grow the Company. He unexpectedly passed away a year into hold. Another CEO was quickly brought in and did not work out. The Company has not been able to gain traction since, and the OPEX investment has still not been paid off.
For the other, an expensive add-on headquartered across the country was done in an adjacent business line. The add-on was done because there is a huge growth opportunity for their product, but management of that business line is inexperienced in selling beyond their local geography. We thought that their lack of experience in sales could be solved by combining efforts and cross-selling with the platform. However, sales target after sales target was missed as they could not figure out how to effectively market and cross-sell. The sales team and operating management at the add-on was laid off to save cost, but due to the company's size and the product's unique sales channels, the roles have been unfulfilled for too long as talent is hard to come by.
Got it, thank you for sharing - really sorry to hear about that. Hope you land on your feet soon!
MBA classmate worked at a regional LMM PE firm. Left to work for a sports analytic firm. Post MBA, ended up at a sports agency that is investor-backed by big name sports owners. Got the job through a referral, I don't think it was even posted online. Seems to be really enjoying his role. Pretty sure he turned down a higher paying tech job offer for it.
It's often about who you know honestly to break into niche industries like sports and being able to succinctly explain how your skillset is valuable.
I hope the mods don’t take this down, as I have no connection to them and am not promoting whatsoever, but Fangraphs.com has job postings (specifically for baseball). There are some really unique opportunities, even for some KBO teams. I’m sure there are similar sites with postings for other teams but this one is pretty popular for baseball so thought I’d add as a resource.
What is the pay like? It may be much lower in relative terms to what you'd make in PE but if its still good relative to where you live and you love it, life as a whole will be much much better.
Hey man, you have an update here? Currently an associate in MM PE looking to make a similar jump into the sports arena, would love to connect
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